Rangers FC look across Glasgow as “Paradise” turns gloomy for rivals Celtic FC.
Rangers were not in action yesterday, but fans got to witness their rivals Celtic suffer a humiliating 2-1 defeat at home to Hungarian side Ferencvaros in the Champions League.
Their elimination from the Champions League has generated plenty of frustration among their supporters on Twitter. So much so that #LennonOut was trending for a few hours.
Now, does one loss constitute a crisis? No, of course not, but yesterday’s defeat, which demoted Celtic to the Europa League and weakened Scotland’s football reputation, in general, was the icing on the cake.
After dropping two crucial points to Kilmarnock early in the season, being hit with ill-disciplined scandal by Boli Bolingoli, barely getting by Dundee United, and now losing to Ferencvaros, tremendous pressure rests on the shoulders of Neil Lennon.
With Celtic already battling inconsistency, and now the tactics and lineup selection of their manager being questioned, closing the gap with Rangers domestically could prove to be an insurmountable challenge.
Celtic obviously have the quality to play with amnesia and revert to their dominant ways against Scottish opposition, and that means Rangers must carry on with their current momentum.
Gers cannot depend on poor performances from Celtic to place title number 55 in their trophy room. Steven Gerrard’s side must write their own destiny, and they are off to a stellar start so far.
Rangers’ dynamic play up top with multiple players already on the score sheet, and their perfect defensive record of zero goals conceded has them on the right path.
For the time being, though, it will be interesting to see how things play out for Celtic. The pressure of achieving history was there from day one, but the Bolingoli scandal, and now the fans’ discontent with their manager are two major distractions they did not need.
From Rangers’ perspective, this is one of the best scripts the football Gods could have written.